The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-25
THE DOGS BEST FRIEND.

Some Experiences of Gabe Beckiey, Dog ID &C.
tor-Hydrophobia Is an Incurabie Disea'e.
Philadelphia Times
Gabe Beckley the s'dogs' friend" is one OF the
noted characters living down in the Neck. For
over thirty years Gabe has made comfortaole
living by treating and handling dogs his sue
cess has been SO great that dogs have oeen sent
him from all parts of the country for treat
ment and his services a dog doctor are in con-
slant demand. When a reporter called on MIN
yesterday he was eating a big setter for cank-
cred ears. When asked TO tell something about
dogs he said:
Il guess l have treated more dogs than any
other man in this country. When / was q
young man ] made a speciality of breaking dogs
for field work, but / confine myself to
doctorine and handling. dog is very much
like human being, and you can generally judge
a mans character by the actions of bis dog. If
the man is surly and disaereeabe the dog soon
finds it out and follows the example set by the
master and a good-hearted, noble fellows dog
is sure to be the dog every body will like
when a dog is sent TO me for treatment the
first thing do is to study his disposition and
make careful diagnosis or his casa 10 DO
this properly it is necessary to know al about
the anatomy of the dog and what relation the
afflicted parts bear to the BRAIN There are
hundreds of diseases the dog is heir to, and dog
is just liable to get sick human being,
and requires just as careful attention. be-
lieve more in nursing than in medicines, though
both necessarily go together
"a very important feature in dog doctorine is
the diet. Did you every hear of q physician
giving roast beef to a patient down with typhoid
fever? If a doctor would do that his patient
would soon leave him for another world. It is
the same with dog. l don't believe in starv
ing, but in a light diet. The idea of feeding
meat to dogs, especially when sick. is erroneous
and does more harm than good. The best food
is boiled rice, oatmeal and cereals, to which mas
been added extract of beef and iron. The most
common diseases are distemper. and
canker These are all contagious and whom
dog shows signs of any OF these diseases he
should be kept by himself and carefully nursed.
''Hydrophobia is incurable disease. OF
late years much has been said and written about
this, and l have read many comments that my
experience tell me are wrong L believe it is
disease of the brain which has its origin in the
teeth. The disease however, is not near
prevalent as some think. and hundreds of dogs
have been killed through ignorance. A dog
may get the tooth ache just the same as man.
and il the tooth is decayed or the nerve affected
a secretion is formed in the gums. The pain
sets the dog crazy and he will nope around for
several days and want TO keep to himself The
dogs mouth is filled with minute blood vessels
and the secretion formed gets into these vessels
and contaminates the blood All this time the
dog is thinking only of the pain. and it finally
becomes SO acute as to DESTROY his reason and he
becomes crazy-or rabd, as it is called. When
his blood is poisoned by this secretion he is
dangerous and is liable to contaminate others,
matter how slight the wound is II dog is
really mad or shows any signs of the disease the
only safe way is to kill him as quickly and pain
lessly possible.
Fashion has everything to do with house
dogs, and have my hands full in attending
them. A short time ago all the society ladies
had pugs; then the King Charles took the pug's
place. Grsyhounds always popular, ard
littla terriers next, but the fashions be dog
is the mastiff. These pets generally
housed up and most of the time kept in
warm, carpeted rooms. These surroundings ara
unnatural TO a dog and he gets sick. If he was
allowed to run in the open air and was fed regu-
larly on a cereal diet instead of meats and other
solids which he never has any use for he would
be all right. The mastiff is big noble fellow
and is worth ten times his weight in pugs. He
is intelligent fellow. and is very affeetionate.
but at the same time dIgrif1ed, and his presence
is all the protection house requires. The
mastiff is the most sensible pet the ladies could
hava